Archive for October, 2010

This recap is going to be short, for two reasons. First, neither Brandon Roy nor Marcus Camby played, probably in an effort on Nate McMillan’s part to prevent more injuries to key players. Don’t be surprised if Camby sits the rest of the preseason. After all, with the news today that Jeff Pendergraph’s torn ACL from last night’s game in Utah will cost him the entire 2010-11 season, Camby is the only center Portland will have until Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla get healthy. The second reason I can’t talk at length about the team’s strengths and weaknesses (mostly the [...]

After Tuesday’s blowout of the Clippers there was plenty of talk about needing to get over it quickly and move on to the next game. Thursday’s game, the second of Portland’s seven game preseason, was the opposite of Tuesday’s win. At times it was the Blazers playing the part of the team getting blown out on Thursday. Portland built two strong comebacks but neither was enough to get the win. Thursday’s final score, 100-96 in favor of the Jazz, was closer than the game was, although optimistic Blazers fans can take pride in the fact that Portland never gave up, [...]

As we approach the beginning of the regular season, the deadline to sign players from the 2007 draft class to contract extensions is also on the horizon. The Bulls signed center Joakim Noah to a five-year, $60 million deal over the weekend, and Atlanta has reportedly opened talks with Al Horford. Last summer, the Blazers went through the process with their two franchise cornerstones, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. While there were few who doubted that Roy was worth the max deal he signed, Aldridge’s contract was a little trickier. Even though he’s been a fan favorite since being drafted [...]

If asked to sum up the first “real” game of the Blazers 2010-11 season in one sentence, I would submit this: The Clippers did themselves a favor by not showing up. LA was down from before the tip, playing without their leader Baron Davis and arguably their best player in Eric Gordon. For Portland, Tuesday’s game was more a chance to get a look at players in real time, in situations that sort of resemble game speed and game play. Sort of resembles game play in the sense that it is preseason, and no matter how many wins Portland gets [...]

Today is the first in a series of days we’ve all been waiting for, the day when the Blazers line up for the first time against another team, and the basketball season officially begins.  Portland gets there first game of the 2010-11 campaign against the Los Angeles Clippers. If there is a team in the league that commiserates to some degree with the Greg Oden saga it would have to been the Clippers. After finishing the 2008-09 season with a dismal 19-63 record, the Clips won the right to take Blake Griffin with the first overall pick in the 2009 [...]

New Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis made waves last week for seemingly letting slip that the NBA owners are strongly leaning towards pushing for a hard cap similar to the one in the NHL, where Leonsis also owns the Capitals. After the unprecedented coup that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh pulled off this summer—one which signaled a major shift of the balance of power in the league from the owners to the players—it’s easy to see why owners want to wrest some of this control back. But I’m not so sure this will ultimately benefit the league in [...]

No doubt everybody’s watching college football this afternoon, and may not be paying attention to twitter, the unofficial home of Blazers news. Here’s a few quick updates. The Blazers have waived Eric Williams and Dwight Lewis. The preseason roster now stands at 18 and will be pared down further to 15 before the season officially gets going. This was reported first here by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian. Marcus Camby is unsure as to his status for Tuesday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Clippers. Camby has been suffering from a strained groin which has held him out of practice [...]

One thing is certain, it was nice to be back in the Rose Garden.  I won’t ruminate too long on this evenings happenings.  FanFest is a cool thing, I don’t go every year, but I did this year, and I have to say, it wasn’t a bad time. It’s nice to see fans turning out to catch half a glimpse of a Blazers “practice” and a real look at some early action. Of course the star of the evening was Wesley Matthews. He can bring it on both ends of the floor, and most nights when it’s another team lined [...]

We’re about 10 minutes away from the first five-on-five on-court action the general public will be seeing from the Trail Blazers this season. I know this scrimmage is completely meaningless but feel free to use this thread to go discuss it.